Free Write

 

At the Martel café in Vésenaz, Switzerland, the three writers did their last face-to-face free write until June. It was a Friday, not their usual Tuesday. Appointments had made their regular Free Write session impossible. 

It was Julia's prompt. She'd taken the photo at the restaurant where she'd eaten earlier in the week. Unlike other prompts, she had three photos to choose from.

Julia's Free Write

"Wow," she said: "rather blinding don’t you think?"

It had been a long day with a full schedule and when she arrived early due to a lucky happenstance and was shown to the table, that was her reaction.

However, at the end of a delightful and delicious dinner her attitude had totally changed.

In a wooden-ceilinged Thai restaurant, this table was in its own corner on an upper balcony where one could overlook the lower part – or look out to the balcony which ran along the side.  That in turn was an overhang overlooking a “river” stocked with koï and other exotic fish.

The food had been authentic, the services Asian polite.

She was entirely relaxed at the end of the meal and actually much more receptive to the colors and intricacies of the patterns.

No longer blinded, but appreciative of the beauty.

 Julia has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/

D-L's Free Write

Josie was unhappy. Her mother and sister know she doesn't like Thai food but overruled her by selecting a Thai restaurant.

Okay, the table cloth was beautiful, the dishes were beautiful, but the food would leave her with a tummy ache.

It was always them against her. Her sister would be praised for one A when Josie had all As. Her sister finished junior college, but her parents couldn't get to Cambridge for her graduation when she wore the crimson robe for her Ph.D.

The luncheon was to plan her wedding, something her mother said she thought would never happen. "Men don't like bookworms," Josie had heard most of her life.

Her mother took a notebook from her pocketbook. Page after page listed guests names.

"Paul and I want a small wedding." Josie said.

"Impossible," her mother said.

Her mother and sister, who assumed that she'd be Josie's maid of honor, continued planning everything that Josie didn't want.

Josie stood up and gathered her things.

"Paul and I are going to elope. We'll be married in the south of France. I'll send photos." As she walked out the restaurant door, she thought, "that felt good."

D-L is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Check out her website at: https://dlnelsonwriter.com Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased  at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504

 

 Rick's Free Write

I’m a rather picky eater.

I had never before eaten Thai food. So when I traveled to Bangkok for a conference for several days, I was seriously concerned I might starve. Just in case, I packed a package of Oreo cookies.

I needn’t have worried. Outside my hotel in the convention/ tourist area, there was a McDonald’s across the street and a Kentucky Fried Chicken around the corner.

But eventually, I would end up dining with business colleagues and be forced to order something local.

Oh, did I mention I especially don’t like fish?

The menu had all sorts of exotic-sounding dishes I had never heard of. And wasn’t sure I wanted to know the details.

Just before I had to order, a waiter walked past with a tray for another table. I noticed some skewers of meat and thought I detected an aroma of peanuts.

“What is that dish?” I asked him.

“Satay” was the response. “Chicken.”

Chicken I could do – with a coating of peanut butter. Reminded me of the Italian spiedies from when I grew up – marinated chicken cooked on a skewer over charcoal. (I was even a spiedie cook for one summer during university.)

Between the satay and my imported Oreos, I managed not to starve on the trip.

I’m less fussy these days… but not much.

Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.